Neary-Sighted

The Lakewood Police deaths had all sorts of implications and results, ranging from an abiding sadness that is still present in City Hall to the rocketing of certain people into the limelight. Among those who would wish at their very core for a different Nov. 29, 2009, would be Sgt. Brian Wurts, president of the Lakewood Police Independent Guild.

Everyone is sad at what happened, but when you talk to Brian, you know this is a guy who lost the equivalent of family members in this thing. He was already a pretty intense person, and now he's got some missions. One of them is encouraging people to support various bills that seek to address issues related to the horrible shootings. What I do today is share Brian's list of some of the bills that he is watching in the 2010 legislative session. I don't mean or want to replace any list that he puts out, but I saw some of his comments and wanted to share them.

First though, if you have the time, here's how you can see the passion fill out the discussion during early hearings on Jan. 18. You can hear from three relatives of the slain Lakewood police officers. The women start testifying at about 20 minutes into this program. Slide the timer over to 20 minutes to hear them. It's incredibly moving, of course. You can then hear Brian right after, or about 36 minutes into the presentation.



The next day there was another hearing, and more chance to hear from people concerned about the Lakewood crimes. You can hear from Brian again at about 26 minutes in. Not all the voices are unanimous, of course, and you can hear from the American Civil Liberties Union at about 40 minutes in. Brian returns at about an hour and 20 minutes into it.



Anyway, here's a partial list of some of the bills they are tracking:

HB 1203 - Modifying the definition of relative for purposes of the crime of rendering criminal assistance. (O'Brien)

HB 2625 - Addressing bail for felony offenses. (Kelley)

HB 2626 - Modifying violation provisions for offenders. (Kelley)

HB 2781 - Imposing a sanction for offenders who violate sentence conditions by committing an assault against a law enforcement officer, employee of a law enforcement agency, or department of corrections employee. (Hurst) This relates to the Lakewood case because the guy who killed our officers could have been held for longer for assaulting a prison guard than at present.

HJR 4220 - Amending the state Constitution so that the provision relating to bailable crimes by sufficient sureties is modified. (Hope) This bill allows a judget to deny bail to someone who threatens public safety and who may be going to prison under the 'three strikes' rules.

PSSJR 8218 - Amending the state Constitution so that offenses that may result in a mandatory life sentence upon conviction are not bailable by sufficient sureties. (Carrell/Juliana Roe).

SB 6293 - Changing provisions relating to rendering criminal assistance in the first degree. (Brandland/Kimberly Johnson)

HB 2519 - Addressing duty-related death benefits for public safety employees. (Green/David Pringle)

The tragedy showed there are some iniquities in how benefits are paid out to families whose loved ones are killed in the line of duty. You can watch a hearing about this matter below. If you slide the timer to about 35 minutes into the hearing, you'll hear the Lakewood police representatives, Chief Bret Farrar and Skeeter Manos, a board member of the Lakewood Police Independent Guild. His testimony is pretty moving, and starts at about 39 minutes in. I'd challenge you to listen to his thoughts about what would happen if he got killed in the line of duty, and not be moved yourself.

As Brian noted later, you can watch how the committee voted right after Manos's powerful presentation to move the bill along, rather than sit on it awhile as previously planned. Well done, lawmakers.



Just as a final note, I'm no expert on how to track large swaths of legislative bills. If you have a suggestion on practical ways that people can seek to influence or track this legislation, I'd love to hear 'em, do 'em and/or share 'em. Let me know.
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